Reunited with London

I made it, I’m here! My flight got into Heathrow right on time. Unfortunately, I did not sleep at all on the flight. I decided that it would be better to stay awake so that I’ll adjust to the time difference easier. I did sit next to a very sweet old British man on the plane, though. Well, he wasn't really old, per se. He was probably not much past middle aged, but he was still cute and British! Very stereotypical, reserved kind of guy, but in more of a humble way than a pompous one. It was pretty hard to have a conversation with him, really, because he was so soft-spoken. Actually the man I sat next to on my other flight was talkative as well. Normally, people don’t seem to strike up conversations with me on airplanes. The first guy was a mechanical Engineer from Seattle, probably early 30’s. We just chatted a bit about psychology and video games. Neither of these conversations lasted long, of course, but to someone like me who never talks to strangers, it was quite an epic journey!

Getting back to the original topic, the lack of sleep means that I’m crazy tired right now, though! I took the Heathrow Express train into Paddington station instead of taking the tube from the airport to save time. I then had to get the tube from there to the Farringdon tube stop, from which I walked to the work abroad program’s (BUNAC) office. I learned something rather valuable this morning: lugging a giant suitcase up and down stairs in the Underground and down the sidewalk for a good 10 minutes is definitely something to be avoided if one can help it! Of course, I can’t afford to take a cab, so lugging a giant suitcase it is!

Right, so I arrived at BUNAC around 8:30 AM to find that they don’t open until 9:30. Apparently, I didn’t need to take the Heathrow Express to save time. -_- So I went down to a little café on the corner, had a pastry and a latte, and read through my Work Abroad Handbook for the thousandth time (hey, it was either that or stare into space for an hour). I then headed back to BUNAC and waited around there. I got a chance to check my email, which was nice.

The orientation was interesting. Well, actually it was pretty boring, but it was a room full of highly jet-lagged Americans and Canadians attempting to pay attention to information about taxes and the like for nearly 2 hours. Needless to say there was a lot of yawning going around, which, combined with the fact that almost everyone in the room had a sort of glazed look in their eyes, makes for mild entertainment says I. I’m no exception, though! My eyes are pretty dang blood-shot, I haven’t brushed my teeth in well over 24 hours, and I am not only am drinking my second latte of the day, but also took my pill this morning, and still I feel like if I close my eyes I will pass out.

So what now, you ask? Now I wait around for a few hours. I have to wait for Jon to get off work before going to Colchester, so I snuck out of BUNAC (not that they care where I go, but I left my big suitcase under a table there, and I’m sure they don’t want me leaving it there while I go out) and walked about 5-10 minutes to find a Starbucks, which unfortunately doesn’t have free internet like I thought it did. I already bought my coffee, though, and I’m definitely bored enough, so I’m paying for the internet.

There’s something about a vanilla hazelnut latte from Starbucks, man. Every sip is like a bit of liquid joy entering my system. All I want to do is SLEEP! As I become more and more delirious from sleep deprivation and exhaustion, my writing becomes less and less coherent, so I’ll stop here. Sorry if this post has been a bit whiny, but I r a sleepy Rachel. I’ll post this tonight and promise to write more soon!

Tchau!

Random little addition: There’s some old British man pacing around the sitting area in the basement of this Starbucks. He’s just walking back and forth, occasionally sitting down, then getting up and resuming his wandering. It’s kind of creepy! If I was a braver person, I would strike up a conversation with him in an attempt to understand why he’s pacing like this. Perhaps a disorder of some sort? Or maybe just too much coffee? My shyness forces the phenomenon to remain mysterious. XD

Getting Ready to Leave

Right, so I’m taking a little hiatus from writing out a packing list to blog. I spent about 5 hours working today, yay! I was working with Technology Services, filming Whitman graduation. This involved standing behind a camera for a few hours directly in the sun in some seriously hot weather. I like filming, but yuck! My boss, Richard, is leaving Whitman this summer, so I said goodbye to him after we were done taking down all the equipment. It’s funny how much I think I’ll miss him. It will be so weird working for someone else!

Anyway, I have to pack and clean my room today, because I leave Walla Walla tomorrow afternoon! My dad and I will drive to Seattle and stay the night at Chris and Margo’s house. My flight leaves the next morning at 8:00 AM, I get into Toronto at 3:32 PM, have a couple hours of layover, leave Toronto at 6:25 PM, and get into London Heathrow at 6:25 AM the next day (Wednesday). Phew! I have to make sure to get to my orientation at 10:30 that morning as well. There should be plenty of time for that, though. After orientation, I have to occupy myself for a few hours then hop on a train. An hour or so later I’ll arrive in Colchester, walk about half a mile (I think) and then I’ll finally be at my home for the summer! That’s about 48 hours of travel. Good lord. But then it’s all in the name of adventure!

Luckily, Jon has Thursday off, so he’ll be able to help me acclimate that day (i.e. take me to the grocery store, etc.). Hopefully we’ll acclimate to living together as well. Hooray to a summer of arguments about the proper resting position of the toilet seat! Of course I’m nervous about heading off to another country for the summer, but I have a feeling it will be one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I suppose I ought to get back to my packing list. More to come soon!

Tchau!

Wedding-ness! (written yesterday)

At the time I’m writing this, I’m sitting in a cabin on the beach in Carmel. My family went off to sightsee and generally enjoy themselves, while I am supposedly here doing homework. It’s not that I haven’t tried! But seriously, you try sitting on a couch in living room with French doors overlooking the beach and getting anything done! Then perhaps you won’t think I’m quite as lazy. Then again, I AM lazy…

The point is, even when I do manage to get my eyes to focus onto the screen of my computer, I can still HEAR the sounds of the waves crashing against the beach. If it was sunny today, this place would be paradise. Note to self: in the future, finish papers and studying before going to paradise.

Besides trying not to look and listen to the ocean, I also must contend with my wandering mind. I can’t stop thinking about how beautiful the wedding was yesterday. Patrice and John got married, woot! Patrice’s mom Beth and my mom have been great friends since they were 13 years old, so they feel like family to us. They’re more than just family friends. When Beth met Chris’s fiancé Margo yesterday, she hugged her and said, “Welcome to the family. When you join, you get all of us.” Anyway, I’ve known Patrice my whole life, and it’s really great to see her with someone who fits her so perfectly. I also can’t stop thinking about how drunk I was. D’oh! I really need to learn to drink slower…or just less. Didn’t do anything regrettable though, so all is well! I’m definitely grateful to mi hermano Eric for dumping water down my throat, though.

Oh man, last night Eric and I were chatting with one of the photographers while waiting in line to get pasta (which was freakin delish) and after she and I briefly discussed our relative vegetarianisms, the subject of the swordfish they were serving inside came up. Eric joked, “You don’t even have to feel guilty about eating swordfish, Rachel, because if you didn’t eat it, it would just go attack another fish!” I played along saying, “Yeah, it would just stab you with its sword!” and made some awkward poking gestures, because…you know…I roll like that. “It’s a very aggressive fish!” adds my brother. At this point, the woman photographer points back and forth between Eric and I and asks, “Are you two brother and sister?” We thought this was hilarious, and started reliving jokes from earlier about being each other’s date. “I knew I should have bought you that corsage!” lolz, mi hermano, lolz.

So all in all it was a fun night, but I’m ready to go home. I’m ready to turn in this paper, take this final, and be DONE. ‘Twill be amazing. I’ll have like 3 days to get things figured out, a day of work, and then will be leaving Walla Walla on the 19^th! Eee!

Things I’m looking forward to in England:

-Hearing more people cuss on the streets: there’s nowhere near enough swearing in this country.

-The tube: I know, call me crazy, but I actually miss my 40 min morning commute. I won’t be staying in London, but taking the tube a couple times on that first day will be nice.

-Meeting Jon in person

-Pubs: I like them. The end.

-Happy Whiners: British people crack me up. They love to complain. I’m serious, they actually enjoy complaining. Professor Julian would constantly complain about British everything, but he’d do it with the biggest grin on his face. Yay Brits!

-Making it on my own: living entirely off of what I make myself for the first time. Yes, I’ll be broke, but it’ll be my broke-ness, and no one elses!

Things I’m not looking forward to:

-Looking for a job: And the uncertainty that comes with moving to a foreign country without one.

-Living with someone messier than I am: He’s lucky he’s so cute and sweet, let me tell ya.

-Having almost no close friends around: no explanation needed methinks.

-Being broke: Why is everything so expensive in England dag nabbit?!

I’m sure these lists will grow over time, but this will have to do for now. Side note: Why is it that I can write so much about randomness, but when it comes to writing a paper I just sit and stare at my computer screen? Oh right, ADD. Damn. Well I suppose I should get back to attempting to do real work. Hopefully I can upload this tonight, but if not, tomorrow should do. Tchau!

It's settled!

Right! So I got my Blue Card in the mail today! This is the lovely little card that lets me live and work in England.

I was feeling up for it, so I went ahead and bought my plane ticket today as well. Eeeeee, exciting!

As of tomorrow I will be back in England in 2 weeks. : ) It's these sorts of thoughts that will get me through this next miserable week. All will be well.

On another note, I've hardly been eating lately! Focusing so much on work makes having a regular eating routine difficult, which, coupled with taking my pill, means that I forget to eat. I suppose there are worse things, but there have been a couple of days lately where I have literally eaten like 3 bites of food. Had a yummy dinner of tacos at a Dr B's (psych prof) house last night, though! I will attempt to do better until things settle down and I don't have to worry about it so much.

That's it for now then!